Walter Roland Vol 2 1934 - 1935

Muddy Waters 1941 - 1946
DOCD-5146 Muddy Waters: Library of Congress Recordings (1941 – 1942) & Early Commercial Recordings (1946 – 1950) Muddy Waters, vocal, guitar. With contributions by: Percy Thomas, vocal, guitar; Son Simms (probably Henry Simms), violin; Louis Ford, vocal, mandolin; Charles Berry, guitar; Homer Harris, vocal, guitar; James “Beale Street” Clark, vocal, piano, “Baby Face” Leroy Foster, vocal, drums; Little Walter, vocal, harmonica; and others… Genres: Mississippi Blues, Country Blues, Country Blues Guitar, Bottleneck Slide Guitar; Chicago Blues, Blues Harmonica. Informative booklet notes by Jack Gittes. Detailed discography. From this CDs booklet notes: It is impossible to listen to Muddy Waters' first recordings without an awareness of everything that came after. Muddy Waters was part of the burgeoning Chicago blues scene that defined and shaped the approach to amplified music in the 40's and 50's. The first tracks on this Document records CD come from recordings that Alan Lomax made of Muddy Waters in 1941 - 1942 during a field recording trip on behalf of the Library of Congress and although they are not yet the sounds that became known as Chicago Blues, they are sessions that awoke the professionalism in the young Waters. Continued...

St Louis Country Blues 1929 - 1937

Son House 'At Home' The Legendary Rochester 1969 Sessions

Skip James Live Volume 1- Boston 1964 & Philadelphia 1966
DOCD-5149 Skip James "Live" Vol. 1 - Boston 1964 & Philadelphia 1966 Skip James, vocal, guitar, piano. Mrs Lorenzo James, vocal on track 12. Genres: Country Blues, Mississippi Blues, Country Blues Guitar. Informative booklet notes by Roger Misiewicz. Detailed discography. The dark and shadowy figure of Mississippi Delta Bluesman, Skip James, was re-discovered in 1964. He had already made recordings for the old Paramount label back in 1931 (DOCD-5005) before disappearing into obscurity. The three CDs featured here present Skip James in concert, including a performance made in the same year of his re-discovery. Stephen Calt’s biographic book on Skip James titled I’d Rather Be The Devil brought further attention to this unique performer. These three volumes of “live” performances are undoubtedly among Skip James best performances since his Paramount recordings. Throughout them his guitar playing again and again demonstrates why he is revered as one of the best and most unique and creative of country blues guitar players to have recorded. Coupled with his rich falsetto voice the overall result is a spell bounding experience for the listener.

Too Late Too Late Blues 1926 - 1944
DOCD-5150 Too Late Too Late Blues 1926 - 1944 Alternative takes and rare, late, discoveries. Various. The first Document CD appeared in 1990 with DOCD-5001 “Tommy Johnson”. Three years and 150 releases later the first volume of the “Too Late, Too Late” albums appeared. The unprecedented unleashing of such a fast growing bulk of blues and gospel recordings in such a “completist” fashion inspired both fans of the music and collectors alike. Once that the great river of releases had been flowing for a while collectors began to think again about what might be hidden in the corners of their collections or had until then been regarded of no real significance. In addition there were recent and continue to be, rare finds. A Big Bill Broonzy 78 had just recently been found, having been picked up in a lot that was saved from the street where it had been left for disposal. Then there was the box of Paramount tests that had been found several years ago which were made available. Collectors also began to revisit their records with more attention being paid to the recordings themselves and on many occasions found that takes that appeared on their records were not the takes that had thus far been re-issued.

Gene Campbell 1929 - 1931

Kansas City Blues 1924 - 1929

Blind Joe Taggart Vol 1 1926 - 1928

Blind Joe Taggart Vol 2 1929 - 1934
Blind Joe Taggart CDs

Rev Edward W Clayborn 1926 - 1928
DOCD-5155 Rev. Edward W. Clayborn (The Guitar Evangelist) 1926 – 1928 Rev. Edward W. Clayborn (The Guitar Evangelist), vocal, guitar. Genres: Gospel, Guitar Evangelist, Bottleneck-slide guitar. Informative booklet notes by Ken Romanowski. Detailed discography. The Rev. Edward W. Clayborn played an open tuned guitar, a simple and insistent alternating bass line, a melody confidently stated on the treble strings with a bottleneck and homespun, homiletic, lyrics which were the ingredients that combined to produce the success of Vocalion 1082, "Your Enemy Cannot Harm You (But Watch Your Best Friend)". Continued...

Ma Rainey Vol 5 1928